Polishing disk



Jan. 9, 1945. c. F. SCHLEGEL- POLISHING DISK Filed Aug. 9, 1940 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. SaZZeyZ BY E 2 z;

Czar-Z Z ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 9, 1945 POLISHING DISK Carl F. Schlegel, Brighton, N. Y., assignor to The Schlegel Manufacturing Company, Rochester, N. Y. a corporation of New York Application August 9, 1940, Serial No. 351,972

8 Claims. (Cl. 15-230) This invention relates to polishing pads or disks, for polishing a variety of articles, such,

for example, as metal sheets, automobile bodies,

furniture and the like, one object being to provide a generally improved pad or disk of a relatively simple and inexpensive type, having a unitary and durable construction capable of being efflciently adapted to a variety of uses.

' Another object is the provision of a pad or disk of the above nature having a flexible type of construction adapted to conform to and polish either regular or irregular surfaces, efliciently and with minimum labor.

Another object is the provision of such a polishing element having a polishing face formed by the free ends of a multiplicity of fibers which are securely anchored in the body portion of the element and of a predetermined density and firmness.

A further object is to provide an element of the character described having a round and balanced construction adapted for mounting conveniently upon a motor driven mandrel for rotation at relatively high speeds.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will b hereinafter more'fully de-' scribed, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one form of polishing pad or disk embodying th present invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of such a. disk with the backing portion removed and partly unrolled, to illustrate the construction;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through a portion of the disk;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of one form of strip employed for assembling the polishing fibers in such a disk;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing a construction of the fiber strip;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing one method of making such a disk;

Fig. 7 is a side elevation partly in section of parts shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing another form of disk embodying the invention, partly constructed.

Fig. 9 is'a view similar to Fig. 8 showing the disk completed; v

Fig. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of parts shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a similar view at right angles to that of Fig. 10;

modified Fig. 12 is a top view of still another form of disk embodying the invention;

Fig. 13 is a transverse sectional view of shown in Fig. 12;

Fig. 14 is an enlarged view of parts shown in Fig. 13, and I I v Fig. 15 is a face view of a section of a textile material or strip used in the modification of Figs. 12 to 14 inclusive, but showing five warp strands instead of three.

The same reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

There has long existed a substantial demand for a flexible, durable, inexpensive pad for polishing automobile bodies, furniture, and the like, including a type of construction adapted to be rotated at relatively high speed by a motor driven mandrel. It has been proposed to conparts struct such polishing pads and disks of natural wool or other animal fleeces, but such fieeces are not uniform in structure nor durable under the hard usage involved, while the attempted use of fleeces carefully selected to stand such usage has proven too expensive.

It has also been proposed to construct polishing pads and disks of carpet having a pile surface on a woven base, with or without treatment of the base with a latex or other strengthening coating, but it has been found that such pads are not strong enough to prevent the raveling out of the fibers, particularly under rotation at high speed, not adapted for production in variably predetermined flexibility and density and such pads are furthermore not conveniently adapted for attachment to a driving mandrel.

As a result of the investigation of such prior constructions and their defects, it has been found that such defects can be overcome by a principle of construction specially devised to afford the characteristics desired in such an article and to meet the requirements of the exacting usage to which they are commonly subjected.

In carrying out the invention, it is preferred to first assemble the polishing fibers in an elongated strip in which they are suitably secured adjacent one end as by means of one or more interwoven warp strands, portions of said strip being then assembled together in side by side relation to form the pad or disk.

Referring more particularly to the drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the invention, there is shown in Fig. 4, a'fragment of such a strip, including warp strands 20 securing together a multiplicity of weft strands 2i forming the polishing fibers. Either the warp strands or the weft strands or both may be of any suitable textile material, such as cotton, linen, wool, fleece, jute, hemp, silk, rayon, etc. Ordinarily some inexpensive textile material, such as cotton strands, is used for both the weft and warp, but if a greater degree of strength and stiffness is desired some or all of the warp strands may be of linen or even of metallic wire. It has been found that cotton and wool are quite satisfactory for the polishing fibers, where a soft texture is desired, but stiffer materials and even metallic wire may be employed, where required by the nature of the work to be performed. The polishing fibers may have any suitable length, depending upon the material employed and the desired stifiness of the polishing surface, fibers of one-fourth inch in length having been found suitable for some purposes, and of a length of one inch or more for other purposes.

As shown in Fig. 4, the warp strands 20 are located adjacent an end of the polishing fibers to provide for the strip an anchoring edge 22 at which it is subsequently secured in the pad or disk, the opposite ends of the fibers being free to form the fringe or polishing edge 23. Such warp strands may be interwoven with the polishing fibers by any suitable type of stitching, a simple chain stitch having been found satisfactory, as illustrated in Fig. 4 where two spaced rows of chain. stitching are shown with the two rows joined together by cross strands 24. For manufacturing convenience, such a strip may be Woven double the width shown in Fig. 4 and then cut in two along its center line to afiord two strips, such as shown in Fig. 4.

Portions of fiber'strips, such as described above are assembled together in substantially parallel relation with the fringe edges in a dense, compact mass forming a polishing surface, and with the anchoring edges lying substantially in an anchoring face. Such assembly is accomplished preferably, though not necessarily, by winding a strip of the above described material in what may be described as spiral convolutions, with successive portions or layers of the strip superimposed on each other, so that the anchoring edges lie against one another in a surface or plane, and the fringe edges also lie against one another to provide the polishing surface.

It has been found preferable also to wind the strips spirally upon a core or hub 25 of suitable material, as illustrated, for example, in Figs. 2 and 3. One end 26 of the strip is secured in any suitable manner to an edge of the hub 25 and then wound spirally upon the edge and upon it self in successive spiral convolutions, as shown, preferably by rotating the hub, as more particularly described hereafter.

While the hub may be constructed of metal or molded plastic material, it has been found advantageous for many uses to'make it of some flexible material, such as a sheet of compressed sisal or other fibrous material which is economical'and may be employed in any desired thickness or number of plies to afford any desired degree of flexibility. Cores of such fibrous material have the further advantage that they are suificiently soft to avoid serious abrasion of the work in case of contact with it. Fig. 3 shows two plies of such material secured together to form a hub by latex or other suitable flexible cement 21. Such a hub serves both as a form around which the fibrous strip is wound, and also as a hub for attaching the fini hed disk to a mandrel or other motor driven'mounting for rotating the same in polishing contact with the work. For this purpose the core is preferably 1 constructed with an axial opening 23 to receive ing polishing fibers at the central portion of the disk where they are least effective in the polishing operation.

The method of winding the strip to form such a disk is illustrated diagrammatically in Figs. 6 and 7, comprising a rotatable shaft 29 on which is fixed a collar or shoulder 30. The hub 3| for the disk is placed on the shaft against the collar and preferably clamped thereagainst and supplemented in width by a detachable ring or follower 32 to temporarily increase the width of the hub as a base for winding the strip. One end of the fibrous strip 33 is then secured to the hub, as described above, and shaft 29 is rotated to rotate the hub portions 3| and 32 on which the fibrous strip is then spirally wound, as described, under suitable tension applied as by means of tension rolls 34 of any known or suitable type, as well understood in the art.

Winding of the strip is continued until a disk is built up of the desired diameter, the portions or convolutions of theflbrous strip and hub being secured together in place, preferably by the application of a flexible type of cement, such as the commercially available latex, which may be brushed along the anchoring edge of the strip at the warp strands, as the strip is wound on the disk as at 35, Fig. 3. The cement may be applied, however, in a loosely wound disk, for example, by dipping the anchoring face in the cement which penetrates between the ends of the fibers as far as the obstruction formed by the first warp strand.

A disk so formed is preferably provided with a backing or reenforcing sheet 36 of any suitable material. Such backing sheet may be, for example, a suitable textile material, such as canvas, buckram, duck, or the like, to both strengthen and also to finish off the periphery and back portion of the disk. It is preferred likewise to attach such backing sheet by an application of the flexible cement described above, between the sheet and the fiber ends of the anchoring face as at 37, Fig. 3, such coating of adhesive serving to unite the backing material and the strip edges and fiber ends lying in the anchoring face, to form together an effective anchoring section or body for the polishing element or disk which is thin in relation to the whole thickness of the element, so that the polishing element as a whole is relatively flexible in directions transverse to the anchoring section to enable it to conform bodily to uneven surfaces to be polished. The completed disk so constructed is illustrated generally at 38, in Fig. 1, 'where the portion 33 in broken lines indicates its flexing to conform to an irregular portionor corner in a surface to be polished, such as the painted surface of an automobile body.

In a disk so constructed, the polishing fibers lie against and laterally support one another, so as to form a dense, compact mass affording a firm, yet soft polishing face. The invention permits the density and firmness of the fibers at the polishing face to be predetermined in several ways. Thus the use of warp strands of predetermined thickness tends to control the separation and spacing of the fibers from one another and determined thickness, as a means of further spacing the fibers toincrease the softness of the polishing face. Fig. shows polishing fibers woven into a strip by three lines of warp stitching 4|, with such stuffer strand 42 interwoven back and forth between the fibers to increase their separation. Fig. 5 shows a strip first formed in multiple, as described, and subsequently out along its center line to form duplicate strips, so that only one-half of the interwoven loops of the stuffer strands are shown inFig. 5.

The firmness of the polishing face .may also be varied by the number of warp strands employed, as well as by the depth to which the cement is applied inwardly from the fiber ends at the anchoring face. Figs. 1 and 3, for example, show the cement applied over the ends of the fibers and between them up to the first or nearest warp strands, but such depth of the adhesive layer between the strandsmay be varied more or less as desired. The firmness and density may also be varied by the compactness or tension with which the fringe strip is assembled or wound in building up the disk.

A modified embodiment is illustrated in Figs. 8 to 11, inclusive, in which the fibers 43 are secured together in a strip, as before, but by means of three spaced warps 44, each in the form of chain stitching. The fibers in this modification are shorter, being wool strands of about threeeighths inch long, closely held by the warps and tightly wound in the disk so as to be closely confined and form a more dense, firm polishing fa'ce than that of the softer construction shown in Fig. l. The fibrous strip is wound upon a coarse textile core of hemp or the like. In view of strengthen the construction and hold the anchoring edges of the strips more securely, the rear or anchoring face area is covered with a coating of rubber 49, which extends also in a circumferential flange embracing the outer periphery of the anchoring section of the fibrous strip, and in another annular flange 5| around the periphery of the opening which is provided, as before, to receive the mounting means of the driving mandrel. The rubber of portions 49, 50, and 5| is preferably a soft flexible rubber which, with the flexible adhesive of the thin anchoring section,

the shortness of the polishing fibers, the flexible adhesive coating is applied only over the ends of the fibers in the anchoring face and is prevented from penetrating substantially between the fibers by the close binding of them by the warps. The coating, as before, unites with the core or hub 65 a backing sheet 46 which, in this instance, is a sheet of fibrous material about oneeighth of an inch thick and relatively stiff, but combining with the other'parts to still permit substantial flexibility, suitable, for example, for the application to the dense fiber ends of a cement and a granual abrasive for polishing metal surfaces, as well understood in the art.

Still a further modification is illustrated in Figs. 12 to 14, inclusive, in which the polishing disk or element is made up, as before, of a spirally wound, textile strip 41, of the same general kind previously described. This strip has at its woven anchoring edge or margin, a selvage in which the weft or polishing fiber strand 52 are looped or folded over the outermost warp thread 53 and have their opposite end portions interwoven with the remaining warp threads and projecting therefrom to form the pile polishing face, as shown in Fig. 15 where, however, five warp threads are shown instead of three. In this instance, the successive layers or convolutions of the strip are secured to each other by a flexible adhesive, such as latex, indicated at 48, applied to the sides of the fibers adjacent their anchoring ends.

adhesive is likewise applied, as shown, over the ends of the fibers in the anchoring face, and to The affords a particularly flexible form of polishing disk capable of bending readily for conforming to irregular surfaces, angles, and corners. In this instance also the polishing fibers are soft wool with relatively long, free ends to produce a dense but soft polishing face. The body portion of the disk may have a somewhat; curved shape, as shown, or may lie in a fiat plane as in the modifications previously described.

This modification i one of the species described in my copending application which matured into Patent No. 2,214,351, dated September 10, 1940,

of which the present application is acontinuation in part.

The principles of the invention may thus be adapted to the manufacture of polishing pads of various types. By the selection of suitable material, the use of relatively long fibers loosely bound by the warps, and with a flexible backing sheet, a very soft, flexible type of pad may be produced as represented, for example, by the modification shown in Figs. 1 and 12. On the other hand, by the use of relatively short fibers tightly bound in by the warps and the relatively stiif backing sheet, a harder and stiffer pad may be produced as represented, for example, by the modification shown in Fig. 9. In all of these modifications however, the same type of construction is preserved with its relatively thin, unitary and flexible body portion capable of being controlled as to flexibility by the means described.

By first securing the polishing fibers together in substantially parallel relation in an'elongated strip, and particularly when accomplished by means of interwoven spaced warps, an opportunity is afforded for securely binding the fibers together with a" predetermined closeness and density to suit the intended use, and the location of the warps relative to the anchoring ends of the fibers aids in controlling the thickness of the anchoring body of adhesive. Such method of construction likewise permitsof the building up of the fibers under predetermined tension and with predetermined density in the disk, and the spiral winding of the strip in the disk results in a multiple tying-in and reenforcement, by successive convolutions, to strongly anchor the fibers in place. The strength of the construction is increased by the backing sheet which aids in resisting the centrifugal forces applied by rotation at high speeds. The several parts are 'tenaciously bound together by the latex cement to produce, as a whole, a relatively thin, light, and economical, but flexible and exceedingly tough construction which is capable of efficiently withstanding the hard wear and tear of the usage to which such articles are subjected, as well as being substantially resistant to chemical attack.

The above described structure and method of shop practices. Such a constructionis readily a pile carpet, have been seriously subject.

The described constructions thus accomplish the objects of the invention, and while certain modifications and details of structure and of methods of construction have been described, it is contemplated that various other-modifications and details will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from-the principles of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. As a new article of commerce, a flexible polishing element comprising a multiplicity of flexible fibers secured together adjacent one end by interwoven warp strands to provide an; elongated strip having an anchoring'edge and a fringe edge, stuffer strands of predetermined thickness interwoven with said warp strands and fibers, portions of said strip being assembled together in substantially" parallel relation with said fringe edges thereof in a dense, compact mass forming a polishing surface and said anchoring edges lying substantially in an anchoring face, the

density of said polishing surface being determined by the thickness of said stuifer strands, and a coating of flexible adhesive-uniting said anchoring edges and fiber ends of said anchoring face to form therewith an anchoring section, said section being thin in relation to the whole thickness of said element, and said element as a whole being readily flexible in directions transverse to said anchoring section to conform bodily to said uneven surfaces to be polished.

2. As a new article of commerce, a flexible polishing element comprising a multiplicity of flexible fibers secured together adjacent one end by a plurality of interwoven, spaced warp strands to provide an elongated strip having an anchoring edge and a fringe edge, stuffer strands of predetermined thickness interwoven with said warp strands and fibers, a plurality of lengths of said strips being assembled together in substantially parallel relation with said fringe edges in a dense, compact, mass forming a polishing surface and said anchoring edges lying substanand said element as a whole being readily flexible directions transverse to said anchoring sectiorr to conform bodily to uneven surfaces to be polished.

a, As a new article of commer'ce, a flexible pol- -ishing disk for rotation at high speed, comprising a multiplicity of flexible fibers secured jowoven warp strands to provide an elongated strip .having an anchoring edge and a fringe edge, said strip being wound in spiral convolutions to form a disk with the fringe edges of said convolutions in a dense, compact mass forming a polishing face of said disk and said anchoring edges lying substantially in an opposite anchoring face, stufler strands of predetermined thickness interwoven with said war,p strands and fibers to determine the density of said polishing face, a backing sheet ofrelatively flexible material overlying said anchoring :face, and a coating of flexible adhesive uniting said material and fiber ends to-iorm' an anchoring section which is relatively to conform bodily to uneven surfaces to be thin so that said disk as a whole is readily flexible in directions transverse to saidanchoring section p0 ished.

4. As a new article of commerce, a flexible polishing disk for rotation at high speed, comprising a multiplicity of flexible fibers secured together adjacent one end to provide an elongated strip having an anchoring edge and a fringe edge, a hub portion, said strip being wound" spirally about said hub portion to form a disk with the fringe edges of the convolutions in a dense, com- .pact mass forming the polishing face of said disk and said anchoring edges lying substantially in an opposite anchoring face, a sheet of backing material overlying said anchoring face, and a coating of flexible adhesive uniting said material and anchoring face and hub to form a unitary anchoring section which is relatively thin in relation to the whole thickness of said disk and said disk being readily flexible in directions transverse to said anchoring section to conform bodily to uneven surfaces to be polished, said hub having an opening therethrough to receive 1% mandrel for rotating said disk.

5. As a new article of commerce, a flexible polishing disk for rotation at'high speed, comprising a multiplicity of flexible fibers secured together adjacent one end by a plurality of interwoven warp strands to provide an elongated strip having an anchoring edge and a fringe edge, a hub portion formed of a. sheet of flexible material, said strip being wound in spiral convolutions to form a disk with the fringe edges of said convolutions in a dense, compact mass forming the polishing face of said disk and said anchoring edges lying substantially in an opposite anchoring face, a backing sheet of relatively flexible textile material overlying said anchoring face, and a coating of flexible adhesive uniting said sheet and anchoring face and hub to form a unitary anchoring section which is relatively thin so that said disk as a whole is readily flexible in directions transverse to said anchoring section to conform bodily to uneven surfaces to be polished,

said hub having an opening therethrough spaced.

from said fibers for attachment to a mandrel for rotating said disk.

6. A processing disk having a body formed of a fabric strip wound spirally upon itself about the'axis of the body, said strip for a portion of its width and along one longitudinal margin being woven and for the remainder of its width and along the opposite longitudinal margin being composed only of loose weft strands projecting from the woven marginal portion forming a pile on one side of the disk body, said strip having gether adjacent one end by aplurality of in ter- 76 its longitudinal woven marginal portion only impregnated with a rubber composition entering the interstices and securing the weft strands to the warp strands-against detachment therefrom and securing the woven marginal portion of successive spirals adhesively together, said rubber composition extending as a connective binder body throughout the successive spirals of the spirally wound woven portion only of the strip.

'7. A processing disk having a body formedof a fabric strip wound spirally upon itself about the axis of the body, said strip for a portion of its width and along one longitudinal margin being woven and for the remainder of its width and along the opposite longitudinal margin consisting solely of loose weft strands projecting from the woven marginal portion forming a pile on such side'of the disk body, said weft strands each being so interwoven with the warp threads as to be folded over the outermost warp thread with the opposite end portions of each weft strand interwoven with the remaining warp threads and projecting therefrom forming said pile, said strip having its longitudinal woven marginal portion only impregnated with a rubber composition entering the interstices and securing the weft strands to the warp strands against detachment therefrom and securing the woven marginal portion of successive spirals adhesively together, said rubber composition extending as a connective binder body throughout the successive spirals of the spirally wound woven portion only of the strip.

8. A flexible, rotatable polishing disk comprising a textile strip of strands of fibrous material having a body portion and a fringed edge portion, said body portion having warp strands interwoven with the fibrous strands, the body portion of said strip being arranged in convolutions to form a disk-shaped structure with the convolutions extending spirally with respect to-a central axis and with the fringed portion of the strands forming a circular and somewhat bushy polishing face, the body portion having the interstices between the fibrous strands and the warp strands substantially filled with an adhesive material which is flexible upon curing and which intermingles with the strands and binds the strands and convolutions of the body portion into a unitary mass which is flexible as a whole in a direction normal to the plane of the disk, and means comprising a filler interwoven with the warp strands for varying the spacing of, said fibrous strands.

CARL F. SCI-ILEGEL. 

